Brien McMahon H.S., Center for Global Studies looking to establish International Baccalaureate program

By KOREY WILSONHour Staff Writer

Published 1:30 pm, Friday, October 24, 2014

NORWALK -- Educators at Brien McMahon High School and the Center for Global Studies are looking to establish an extension of a world-renowned educational program for high school students in Norwalk.

The two schools are currently exploring the addition of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program -- a college preparatory program focused on intellectual, personal, emotional and social development.

"These are international standards of achievement. It is recognized worldwide as rigorous and demanding. It's a world class education with world class standards," said CGS English teacher Julie Parham during a presentation to the Norwalk Board of Education Tuesday.

"It's not a program about rote memorization. It's about learning how to learn," Parham said.

Typically, high school IB programs begin in 11th grade but school officials would like to make the program available for students in grades 9-12.

"Once we get the IB diploma program at our school, students would have two choices," said Parham. "The first choice is to get an IB certificate in a certain subject. That works very much like AP advanced placement classes. If students are interested in a subject, they can enroll in an IB class. If they do well in the class and take an exam at the end, they can receive college credit."

The second option would be a comprehensive IB diploma, where students would receive an advanced liberal arts education along with "IB core" classes.

The IB core consists of three classes where "learners learn how to learn," said Parham.

In one of the IB core courses, Extended Essay, students would be tasked with investigating a topic of special interest and providing the details in a dissertation-style, 10,000-word essay.

Students that receive an International Baccalaureate diploma can earn as many as 30 college credits, allowing them to enroll in college as a sophomore.

An IB diploma can also increases a student's chances of being accepted to top universities by 22 percent.

There are currently more than 1.2 million IB students at 3,924 schools in 147 countries, according to the International Baccalaureate website.

A committee at Brien McMahon H.S./C.G.S. is currently working on an application for candidacy this school year. Once the school becomes a candidate, it would spend two years designing a curriculum and training teachers. The school would then offer the IB program in 2017.

Currently, there are 16 IB schools in Connecticut, which includes four IB high school diploma programs in Cheshire, East Hartford, Groton and Bridgeport.

"I'm real excited about it because I think it would be good for the Center," said McCarthy. "It will help as we recruit new students so that people know that when they come in Brien McMahon, they are getting an excellent education."

For more information about the International Baccalaureate program, visit www.ibo.org.